Deserved
by KShade
Summary: Set after the shocking turn of events in Revealed. In revealed, the House of Night is rocked with a betrayal so shocking that it leaves them reeling. With Zoey searching desperately for redemption, and Neferet determined to rule over us all, can they pull together? Follow your favourite characters through all the twists that bring them to question what they know. REVEALED SPOILERS.
1. Chapter 1

_**MAJOR REVEALED SPOILERS! DON'T EVEN READ THE A/N IF YOU HAVENT FINISHED REVEALED.**_

**So, revealed. Yeaaaaah, revealed. Cliff hanger much? And I'm reading on an ereader, so I can't perceive the length of it, but did it seem short to you guys? Just so we're all clear, I **_**do**_** ship Shaylin/Nicole. Go, them! They seem to be a happy relationship, so who am I to judge them? Just going to put that out there, cause they will be shipped in this story.**

When she woke up, she heard a male voice at her ear, "Shaylin, we need you upstairs," he whispered. She sighed blearily, wondering if the world was conspiring to stop her from sleeping. Then, she realized how close she was to Nicole still, her head buried in the crook of her neck, their limbs entwined like those friendship bracelets Shaylin made as a kid. Her eyes shot open, recognising Damien talking to her. There was betrayal and anxiety in his aura. For a moment, she worried that it was because of her relationship with Nicole.

"Damien! Uh, this," she stopped in her denial, and looked at the exhaustion on his face. She didn't want to lie about Nicole. She saw Nicole's colours, and she loved them. Really, it didn't make sense to love genders when you can love colours, what makes a person. And Damien was gay. He wouldn't judge her for being like him, "this is exactly what it looks like. What's going on?" she asked softly, so as not to wake Nicole.

Damien smiled a little, "I'm glad; it's good that people are happy, but we need you and your Sight upstairs. You could call it a catastrophe-situation," even in times of crisis, Damien didn't lose his love of words. Shaylin disentangled herself from Nicole, kissing the groggy red fledgling on the forehead over her mark and telling her that she was needed up there. That way Nicole wouldn't think that she'd left because that was solace and now it was done. Shaylin didn't know quite what to make of that, but she _liked_ Nicole, and she'd probably think about it after the catastrophe.

Damien led Shaylin to the wall, where Shaylin could practically hear the panic. Damien let her through the gate silently, where there was a grave situation indeed. Zoey was crying openly, her wrists in handcuffs. "I deserve this," she was whispering, a mantra. Her aura wasn't swirly, but it was painted through with guilt. The unappealing grey-blue mist was nearly obscuring her purple and silver normal colours. She'd done _something_ bad and now it was tearing her apart.

Stark was feeling too much for Shaylin to look at him for too long, shock, anger, betrayal being the foremost. _He _was spinning, not swirling, rotating through the different emotions at an alarming rate. He was arguing with the officer in charge, "There must be a mistake! I know Zoey, there is something wrong here!" he yelled, getting into the officer's space, "someone is doing something! They're screwing with her mind. Can't you see that!?" he raged.

"No," Shaylin said calmly, "it's all there, Stark, the guilt, the anguish. She's upset. You can feel it. She knows what she's done," she told him flatly, not sure what Zoey had done. It wasn't like Zoey to have her colours change that much. In all the time Shaylin had known her, she'd only ever gone swirly. No other changes had happened. Ever. Now, something drastic must have created this change. "What exactly _has_ she done?" Shaylin asked as an after thought

Zoey looked at Shaylin, her eyes conveying as much as her colours did, "Shaylin? Goddess, Shaylin, I'm sorry," she broke down, "I didn't mean to hurt you, and then I killed those men. I'm out of control." She looked down, wiping away her tears, "I deserve this," she said, her voice cracking. This was not the most powerful fledgling in history speaking, but a lost girl who couldn't deal with her own actions. This was the first time Shaylin saw Zoey on a personal level.

Stark lost it, "And who do you think you are to accuse her of this? I'm telling you, she was possessed. You can get the hell out of her head now." Stark glared at Shaylin. She understood where he was coming from. He loved Zoey so much, this was hurting him just as much as it was hurting her, he would go to all lengths to not believe it. Shaylin could just tell Zoey believed in what she was saying, she didn't know if maybe Stark was right. There was no taint of possession in her aura, however.

Zoey shook her head, "take me away, officers," she said bleakly. The tears had stopped, but the guilt, the self-loathing hadn't vanished. Days ago, Shaylin had been angry with the older fledgling, because she just assumed that it was right to use the mirror on Neferet, assumed that torture was okay if the enemy was evil. She'd been so self-assured. Now, she'd been debunked in everyone's minds, her own included. Shaylin didn't know what it was like to look in the mirror and hate the person you see in it, but she knew that would be a reality for Zoey, and that made her really, really sad.

Stark ran after them, trying to argue the verdict, talk some sense into Zoey, do something, but nothing was going to sway them now. He stormed back, the anger taking the lead in his aura. He glared at Shaylin, his eyes boring into her, "and now you wonder why you were never one of us? You're a traitor, Shaylin, and I hope-" he never finished that sentence.

A seething Nicole had come to Shaylin's side, fire in her eyes and igniting her colours. "You leave my girlfriend the fuck out of this, Stark," she snapped, taking a step towards him, her eyes turning red as she did. Shaylin clutched her hand, holding her back ever a little, and trying to channel the calming influence of Water to her. Otherwise, she worried the night would get violent. Not that she didn't love Nicole's protectiveness.

Stark laughed bitterly, "I should've known, traitor standing up for traitor," he scoffed. Aurox had walked down here to see what was going on, the haywire emotions in the area etching themselves into his own aura. "It's a good thing I don't trust either of you, or I'd be pretty shocked right now," he added meanly. Shaylin could tell that this was a coping method, finding a scapegoat, keeping Zoey the good guy in his mind. That way, he didn't have to question himself for loving her, protecting her. He could see her as perfect and let people who he could take betrayal from be the villains.

Nicole didn't get where he was coming from, so she tried to let go of Shaylin's hand and get really defensive. Shaylin couldn't let her do it. She clutched onto Nicole's hand, _Water, please let her calm down a little, _she thought, seeing a small blue glow around their clasped hands. Taking it as a good sign that most of the angry fire on Nicole's aura sputtered out, she pulled the other girl in for a kiss. Feeling Nicole's lips on her own , responding to hers, she learned two things: how little she knew about what to do, and how much she liked it.

They only stopped when Shaylin heard a slightly choked sound and whirled around to see Stevie Rae looking pretty shocked. Not only shocked, but even a little distrustful. Shaylin knew she was going to have fun explaining that this wasn't why she thought Nicole was changing. She'd told the truth about what she'd seen. Now no one would believe her though.

_Aphrodite_

She woke up to a crazy-ass vision. Zoey was in the park, arguing with two guys. Aphrodite couldn't understand words, but she could see how pissed-off her friend was. The stone lit up for a moment, and then Zoey blasted the two with blue fire, sending them off a cliff. Aphrodite gasped, horrified that her friend had committed murder. Then, she saw Zoey in cuffs, tears streaking down her face, whispering to herself, "I deserve this."

The setting changed to a naked Neferet walking into a church. In the back of her mind, Aphrodite griped that she never needed to see that much of Neferet. Neferet sealed the entrances to the church, walking up to the altar; she took the dress from one of Daddy's coworkers and killed everyone there. Screams rang out around her as she slid the emerald silk dress on. The sound or screaming, blood and death in the air, she arched throwing her head skyward and crying out triumphantly. As she walked through the carnage, stealing a pair of black shoes, she whispered to herself, "I deserve this."

Aphrodite shot out of bed, eyes full of blood. Her head hurt like hell, so immediately, Darius awoke, "my beauty?" he asked, sounding concerned. Aphrodite really didn't deserve him, but she was glad she had him nonetheless.

"Darius, we have to get down there. I just saw something and we need to talk to Shaylin!" I insisted, hoping the other prophetess would have already gotten some help for Zoey. Zoey was losing control, and it sucked, but they were going to have to do something. If they couldn't talk her down, she was going to kill two men, and get arrested. Aphrodite couldn't let that happen. She dressed quickly, unable to see too well, so she just threw on the clothes she'd worn yesterday, which were lying on the floor. Darius, seeing her struggle, helped her to put them on.

She loved that he did that, he didn't care that she'd awoken him just after sunset, screamed a little and ruined a very nice morning of cuddling by running to pull clothes on. Aphrodite had always thought that love was a myth, given the family she was raised in, it sure didn't seem terribly real. Not until she met Darius. Darius had shown her something that she was damned sure was love. Why else would he put up with her shit?

He even carried her down the stairs, because she still couldn't see. Actually the two painful-as-fuck visions had reassured her. When her dad first died, Aphrodite had thought Nyx abandoned her. To this day, she still had those moments where she'd wonder what Nyx saw in her. If it wasn't for Darius, she would have felt completely alone. She wasn't even sure she would have gotten through it, something she reflected on as he carried her down the stairs.

Once they were outside, Aphrodite could see silhouettes through the murky red haze, but not well enough to recognise them. She could see a pissed looking guy, two girls who were pressed together, and a familiar curly-headed bumpkin. Just past the wall, she heard a car leave, and she wondered what the panic was. "Shaylin! Darius, where's Shaylin?" she demanded urgently.

One of the two entangled girls sighed, making her way over, "hey," she said, sounding tense. I wondered who the other girl Shaylin was making out with was, but knew that could wait. At least, it could wait until they prevent Zoey from killing someone.

"This is important, Shaylin, I just had a vision, and I need to know where Zoey is and what her colours are doing. I think she's about to take swirly to a new level and-" Aphrodite didn't want to say 'kill someone' but she hoped Shaylin understood how severe the situation was without her saying the words.

Shaylin seemed to understand a little too well, "kill two men and get arrested? Just happened now." Aphrodite thought the younger girl sounded incredibly bitchy, but didn't comment, knowing this was tough. Why the hell did Nyx show it to her so late? The murders, both Neferet's and Zoey's were done, and both of them were- _wait a moment._

Aphrodite thought she knew why Nyx had given her that vision after all.


	2. Chapter 2

_Zoey_

When I got to the police station, they sent me to the holding cell. There were three others in there. One of them was a middle-aged man, who sat utterly straight, almost defiantly so. He looked like he was daring us all to try and accuse him. There was a woman whose eyes were bloodshot. From time to time she would shriek out random things, or talk animatedly with the walls. I assumed she was high. The last person sat, hunched in the corner, where it was dark enough that I couldn't make them out. I just sat in the center of the dirty floor, wondering how things had gone so wrong.

I wasn't as good as I thought I was. Or, as everyone, including myself used to think. Maybe lots of the things I'd done were wrong. I looked up at the ceiling, praying to Nyx to give me something, some way of knowing whether all my life, I'd been acting like this Zoey and just lying to myself about it. I couldn't feel anything. Normally, through Spirit, I could feel Nyx was at least with me. Now I felt nothing. Sure, the elements were willing to be invoked, but Nyx wasn't there. She'd forsaken me. I didn't blame her.

"Miss Redbird, we'd like to ask you a few questions," detective Marx said gently, looking tired. I suppose it was hard for him to understand why someone who'd sorta worked with him on the whole 'finding Heath' thing was on the other side of the bars. Maybe my life before this had just been a lie big enough that even I believed it. I nodded, getting up. I didn't trust myself with words. He led me to a room that was fairly small ad dark. There was a table with two chairs in the middle of the room, and a camera in the ceiling that would capture everything I said.

He motioned for me to sit down, and I did, still not saying a word. "I understand you left campus tonight, despite being under direct orders to stay on campus," he asked, "why did you do that?" his eyes stared into mine, and I sighed, I suppose the truth would be the best thing to say.

"I'd just broken up with Aurox, and I was headed for my room, when I heard Aphrodite—she's a prophetess—and our other almost-prophetess, Shaylin, talking. They were talking about me, and it wasn't all prophesy related. It was becoming more and more gossip-like and I just couldn't-" I started, not sure how to finish the sentence. They were right. I was out of control. I should've listened to them instead of just blasting. I wondered if Shaylin was alright.

"So you were angry when you left the House of Night?" he asked astutely, taking a sip of his coffee.

I sighed, "I confronted them and they just kept telling me that I needed help, and I was losing control, and this was for my own good," I felt the stone heat up, "Shaylin has an ability to see who a person really is, and a lot of how they're feeling and that kind of thing, and she'd basically been violating my mind, and spying on me," I told him, feeling more and more angry. "Once I was done talking to them, I needed some air, so I figured, I didn't kill Mayor LaFont, I shouldn't be suffering for whoever did. So, yeah, I went on a walk."

Detective Marx sighed, looking older than he normally did, "so you voluntarily left campus against the law, because the prophetesses were talking about you?" he made a couple notes on his page, "and these prophetesses were Aphrodite LaFont and Shaylin Ruede?" he asked. I nodded in response. "So after that, you left campus. Did you go straight to Woodward Park?" he asked, which I also nodded in response to. "tell me what happened while you were there."

"It was rainy and that meant there weren't many people there. I was on my way up the stairs when I met them. I was going to leave, because they looked like they were going to hassle me, but I didn't. I should have," I admitted, "but I was already angry, and I thought I had every right to be at that damned park, so, I stayed. They asked me for money, and I asked them what gave them the right to ask. They've been scaring girls into giving them money. I just felt so angry. And then, it was like my anger became tangible."

"explain that. What do you mean by 'anger becoming tangible'?" he stopped me, pausing in his note- writing and looking up at me.

I sighed, "it was like blue fire coming off me, or, maybe more blue light. I don't know if it was elemental or if it's some other power I'd just tapped into there, but it felt good, letting it out," the tears and the guilt set in, "and then it just vanished. The anger, the feeling _good_. I'd pushed them off the ridge. They were moving, but not much, so I ran. Then you guys found me," I remember handing Aphrodite the stone and warning her. I hoped she took the warning seriously. It was evil, and I was glad I didn't have to keep it.

He sighed, "I think that'll be all," he said, leading me back to the holding cell. I sat there, feeling utterly numb, until I felt a warm sensation around my neck. It went around my neck, and spiked up into my head, zapping my mind. I looked down, seeing the stone around my neck. It was good that I kept it, I was going to need it to protect me. Strangely, something felt off about the familiar object though. I wondered if it was just the terrible mistake I'd made causing me to blame something. No, this stone was here to protect me…

_Aphrodite_

Shaylin seemed to understand a little too well, "kill two men and get arrested? Just happened now." Aphrodite thought the younger girl sounded incredibly bitchy, but didn't comment, knowing this was tough. Why the hell did Nyx show it to her so late? The murders, both Neferet's and Zoey's were done, and both of them were- _wait a moment._

Aphrodite thought she knew why Nyx had given her that vision after all. There had been one detail that differed, Zoey had given her the stone. The stone had glowed. The stone had to be causing something. "Shaylin! Wait a minute! Did you see anything off about the stone?" she asked, starting to piece together an explanation as the blood left her vision and she started to see the night around them.

Shaylin paused, looking pensive. Her girlfriend, who Aphrodite couldn't quite see walked over, "you're thinking too hard there, sweetie," she said almost softly enough Aphrodite didn't hear her. _Nicole_, she thought, completely shocked. Yeah, it probably beat Shaylin dating Erik, but not by a hell of a lot. Aphrodite still held the time Nicole had tried to fry Stevie Rae—while they were imprinted, against Nicole.

"Okay, I may not be able to see, but I can hear," Aphrodite remarked, "you two can save the nauseating PDA for when Shaylin and her Sight _aren't _needed. Now, Shaylin, What did you see about Zoey's stone?" secretly, she liked that they were happy, but she needed answers, not romance. There was something off about that stone, and they needed to figure out what it was before Zoey seriously flipped her shit. Again.

Shaylin sighed, still not letting go of Nicole's hand. "That blue stuff that hit me. It's not Old Magick, is it?" Shaylin asked, "cause that would imply that it's the stone acting on Zoey's emotions," Shaylin added. That was more like it. It sounded viable to Aphrodite, but she wasn't quite sure. She knew what she'd seen, and Shaylin seemed to think something similar. Something was still missing though. Did Zoey choose to do it?

"That's great, except that we have no fucking clue whether that makes her guilty or not," Aphrodite commented, "and before you tell me that you saw guilt in her colours, I mean whether she made a conscious choice to kill them," Aphrodite clarified. She knew that Zoey would feel guilty either way, and she probably should, since it was her stone and her crazy-ass swirly colours that did it. But there was a dividing line from someone pissed off with a dangerous piece of Old Magick tied to them and a murderer. She hoped it was a line Zoey hadn't crossed.

Nicole smiled, "so, youre telling me we need to get inside her head?" she asked, "you're in luck, I have a thing for thoughts. She-" she paused, looking uncertain, "Neferet taught me how. But I can't get in that far alone, I'm going to need power, and lots of it, and someone to anchor me, so I don't get lost," she explained hesitantly.

Aphrodite wasn't so fond of the idea of her using the powers Neferet taught her inside their friend's head, but she decided to keep that concern to herself for now. "So, assuming we can even get you the kind of power you need, and someone who can anchor you, how is this going to work?" she asked. Really, what Aphrodite wanted was an hour or two of sleep and one day where the perpetual shitstorm wasn't encroaching on their friends. Shit. She'd been spending way too much time with the herd of nerd.

Nicole squeezed Shaylin's hand. "Well, then, hypothetically, I could look at her thoughts from the time and see if there's anything vaguely murderous to them," she responded. Aphrodite wondered if maybe, this crazy idea would work, just as Kramisha arrived with their newest prophesy.

"_Bound together they are the Three_  
_To find the truth and set it free  
A warrior of Magick Old  
to fight the battles in his soul  
a circle broken, circle bent  
can they find their way again?  
Against a goddess of Magick black  
Once you know, you can't go back_

_Not Air, who who lost one before his time  
Nor Fire, the one left behind  
Not Water, who will never have learned  
Nor Earth, who has twice been burned  
Not Spirit, who saw it fall  
But Magick, the one hearing it all"_

Aphrodite took one look at the poem and, ignoring the impending migraine, swore softly to herself, not noticing the reactions of the others around her.

**Sorry for taking so long, and thank you all so much for your kind reviews :) I'll try to update, but NaNoWriMo is coming up, so this will only happen once I hit my daily word count for that… Damn, I'm busy. But rest assured, I **_**will**_** be updating.**


	3. Chapter 3

_Nicole_

Nicole, however, did notice the reactions of those around her. Namely, Shaylin turning whiter than normal, and Aphrodite cursing under her breath. She was definitely more concerned about her girlfriend, call her crazy. "You alright?" she whispered concernedly. _Water will never have learned, _echoed in her ears. She knew that was Shaylin, but she wasn't sure what it meant, only that it was upsetting her.

Shaylin shook her head, looking distracted, "I'm fine," she lied. That was another thing Nicole liked about her, she was so bad at lying. It was refreshing being with someone so honest, particularly after all of Dallas' bullshit. Unfortunately, she had little means of finding out what was troubling her girlfriend. Instead of prying, she just kissed her cheek, reassuringly.

"No, you're not," she said in Shaylin's ear, "but if you don't want to talk about it, I won't ask," she added, reading over the poem mentally. The circle—minus Spirit, since Zoey was in jail, was all here. No one knew who 'the three', 'the warrior' or even 'Magick' was. All they knew was that the Three had to have some sort of revealing powers. Perhaps it was a Shaylin-like power, Sight. Maybe Shaylin was a part of the Three.

Shaylin sighed, "I'll tell you, but when I think its right. Cause my old memory issues aren't really important now," she whispered back. Nicole loved that she was so willing to put others first. _Wait a minute. I didn't just think that word. No. That word doesn't go happy places, _Nicole stopped herself there. She could like Shaylin's ability to put everyone else first, but that was it. The other, stronger word, love, it was never without a cost.

Aphrodite looked at the two of them, Shaylin's lips still close to Nicole's ear, and shook her head, "you two need a room," she said, wrinkling her nose at them, not picking up on Nicole mentally berating her word choice or Shaylin _still _ looking deathly pale. "But it's dead obvious about the Three," she continued, looking between them, as though searching to see if either of them had an answer.

Nicole didn't, and she wasn't in the mood to bluff, "Really? I was more caught up on figuring Magick out," she replied evenly. Maybe it would just go better if she was as honest as Shaylin, if she could get used to it. Sure couldn't hurt her chances.

Aphrodite looked between the two red fledglings, "I'd say you were all caught up on Water, but I don't need the visual," she remarked, "and we were just talking about the Three, finding the truth, Zoey, if we aren't all memory impaired," she added. "It's obvious, Nicole. You're a part of the Three, with your scary-ass mind powers, and I'm guessing that means you and Shaylin, with your Truth-seeing abilities."

Nicole liked that part of the poem. Unfortunately, she didn't like that three implied there was going to be a third wheel, "and I presume, if we're seeing thoughts and who they are, the third sees actions," that was when it became clear to Nicole. "Shit! You're the third one!" she cried out. That was going to be fun, seeking the truth with her girlfriend as the most sarcastic prophetess ever to arrive in the Tulsa House of night.

Aphrodite gave Nicole a _look_, "but just because I'm stuck as the prettiest part of this little trio does _not_ mean that I'm stuck as a part of—well, whatever you two have. I'm the third wheel, with the incredibly protective warrior," she confirmed Nicole's suspicions. All and all, she was still bitchy, but she was working with them, and she had raised a valid point. If they were to find the truth, they would have to be professional about it.

Shaylin chose that moment to interrupt their interpretation of the first two lines of the poem by pointing up at the air and screaming. Nicole looked, but only saw the moon, white and serene. Nicole had always liked the moon, even as a human. It was her way of reminding herself that she was never alone, just thinking about how many other people like her were there, staring up at the moon, knowing they were just stars, some more visible than others.

"Shaylin! Are you alright?" Nicole caught her when she started to lose her footing, looking fearful. Nicole focused instinctively on the little connections that she was sure the Three had to have. Finding nothing, she tried harder, trying to channel calm to Shaylin. She felt her girlfriend respond, relaxing slightly, just slightly.

"Nicole, the moon is bleeding," she said softly, "look." She pointed at it, and suddenly, it was like they merged, and she swam through a flurry of panicked Shaylin thoughts to see exactly what Shaylin saw. There was indeed a large slash in the surface of the moon, a slash that dripped blood, staining the sky around it with crimson regret, like it was mournful, wounded. Nicole screamed, breaking the connection entirely. There was only one person who could make the moon bleed.

_Neferet_

It had been easy, getting to Capri. She was a goddess; mortal location did not concern her. She'd simply willed herself to be there, and, fuelled by the blood and the pain of the mass sacrifice, she'd felt herself become the Darkness, streaking across the night sky. It was dizzying, flying as fast as she was across the night sky. She felt so powerful, so unstoppable. She wasn't Neferet, nor Emily. She wasn't a high priestess, a healer of a Tsi Sgili queen. Neferet was a force.

She arrived dramatically, going through the ceiling of the High Council chamber, her stolen green dress fanning out regally in the wind that was entering the chamber through the hole she'd pierced in the ceiling. "Duantia," she said urgently, malice shining in her emerald eyes, "I do believe we have a problem?" she walked forward, through the rubble that had fallen from the ceiling, enjoying toying with the council one last time.

Duantia stepped back, eyes widening in such delicious fear. It fed the Darkness, which was already so ful of power from the huge sacrifice. She was effectively dooming herself more by fearing Neferet. "N-Neferet, listen to me," she choked out, trying to muster the authority she normally had in her voice. Instead, she sounded pathetic, like a scared little child. "You don't want this, Neferet. You've made a terrible mistake, but it's not too late. You can save yourself."

Neferet laughed, sealing the entrances to the chamber and taking a few steps towards Duantia, "perhaps I'll pray then," she said, the malice sparking in her eyes, "let's test that theory." She got to her knees, flicking the tendrils out to entrap the other members of the council, leaving them pleading for Duantia to make Neferet release them. Neferet wanted to see Duantia try. "Dear Nyx," she started mockingly, "here I have your council, your favourites. And we're going to play a little game. If you want them to live, you can come down here and get your hands dirty, because I'm not stopping for anyone else."

Duantia paled, "Neferet, this is madness. Stop, Now though and I can-" was all she got out before she felt Neferet's cool hand over her mouth, red tipped nails tapping none to gently on her cheek.

"Save me? Redeem me?" she asked incredulously, "I hope not. I don't need your redemption. In fact, I'm far more in the mood for a small sacrifice." When she spoke, Darkness tore into one of the other members of the High Council, her screams filling the room. Such fear, such pain. Neferet loved it, she felt it. She was the Tsi Sgili, she didn't need food and water, and she needed blood and death. The fear was just what made it all the sweeter.

Duantia was trying to stifle her tears, coming from fear and her own failure, when she realized that they had let Neferet get this far. Neferet snapped and pointed at another member, the one whose name meant truth. Alitheia or something to that effect. The Darkness began ot tear into her as well, and the fear, the pain in the room augmented. Neferet hummed contentedly, feeling Duantia give up and slacken in her arms, tears flowing. Neferet smirked. It had taken two deaths out of six members (Thanatos hadn't yet been replaced) and the leader was broken.

"Finish them off," Neferet instructed the Darkness flippantly, "I need to send this one with a message." She laid the sobbing Duantia on the floor, stroking her dark hair out of her face. "Do you know who killed Shekinah?" she asked, smirking wickedly.

"You," Duantia choked out, tears already freely flowing.

"And do you know why?" Neferet asked, still not letting the other High Priestess up as the screaming continued around them. Duantia shook her head in response. She wasn't even able to choke words out. Neferet found the resolve of the supposedly formidable High Council pathetic. Come in here, kill a few of them and the rest won't even fight. "Do you know why I killed your council?" she asked, whispering this in Duantia's ear to ensure she heard it above the screaming and the pleading. Duantia also shook her head to that. "Because Nyx let me. Because I'm only what her world made me into.," she responded, "See, even now, let's see if she'll intervene for the sake of the High Priestess of all vampires!" the room fell eerily silent, everyone else dead.

Neferet looked up at the stained-glass ceiling, "Well, Nyx, I'm counting to three. Make me stop if you value your High Priestess!" Neferet smirked, watching as Duantia braced herself, "one," she called out, the darkness rejoining her, "two," she continued, smirking down at her last victim, "three." She finished.

When Neferet left, her green silk dress was stained with blood. Despite that that bordered into flashback territory, she didn't feel like that was even her life. She was not the human who hadn't been able to save herself; she was Neferet, the goddess of Darkness. When she looked up to the night sky, the moon was splattered in blood. Nyx may hold herself above them all, but Neferet was the one in charge, as she left the scene of her last brutal sacrifice, daring any one, human or vampyre to stand against her now.

**So, I'm not so sure about this chapter… I tried not to make it as crazy as I'd pictured it, cause this story is trying really hard to stay T. Would you prefer less cut-scenes and a higher rating, or is toning things down a little the way to go?**


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